A first time for everything
by cinnamon-shake
Summary: Zoro says Luffy has to stay on board the Going Merry while everyone else gets to explore a new island. But can Luffy stay on the ship and keep it safe?
1. Chapter 1: The bet

**Hello everyone :D This is my first ever story and, hopefully, not my last :P It's just a random thing on One Piece that occurred to me, coz seriously...what would happen if the captain of the ship was left alone on his ship? **

**Sorry if the characters seem a little OOC...**

Chapter 1: The Bet

"WAKE UP EVERYONE! THERE'S A NEW ISLAND!"

Luffy shot out of bed and ran towards the direction of Nami's voice. "WOOHOOOO! A NEW ISLAAAANNNDDD! Nami look! It's an island Nami! An island! Nami, IT'S AN ISLAND! MAYBE THEY HAVE MEAT! MEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAT! WOOHOOOOOO!"

Nami leaned away from her loud captain and sighed. It was really quite annoying that Luffy reacted in the same hyperactive way _every_ time they sighted land. Normally she would make him be quiet and tell him to ask Sanji for supplies so that they could leisurely explore the place, at which point Luffy would, as expected, dash off to see if Sanji had any food to eat and she wouldn't have to put up with his craziness any longer. However this time she couldn't help but be a little excited as well. It had been three weeks since they had last set foot on land and not only was supplies running low, but a change of scenery was also something that was quickly becoming a pressing need.

The sound of Sanji saying "Nami san is so wonderful when she's on lookout!" in his love struck voice snapped Nami out of her reverie. She turned around and smiled at the blond cook and was about to ask him if he could get some food for the trip ready when she was prematurely cut off by Zoro.

"Oy, shitty love cook! Stop blocking my view and go make me some breakfast!"

Zoro did not seem to be in a good mood, which was no surprise since he never was after being woken up. This was not helped greatly by the fact that Sanji seemed to be in a mood for, in Zoro's opinion, stupid come-backs

"You're the one with the three oversized kitchen knives, marimo head!"

The said marimo head was about to make a cutting remark (_ha ha_) about what he thought about kitchen knives when he was interrupted by a large rumble that came from the direction of Luffy's stomach. Luffy who had been jauntily doing what he called a real pirate's dance suddenly seemed to run out of energy and sunk to the floor.

"Aaaah. I'm so hunnngryy. I need some meat." He groaned with his tongue out of his mouth. Sanji took one look at him and stubbed out the cigarette that he had been smoking. Zoro saying he was hungry he could ignore but Luffy saying he was hungry was something that needed to be taken care of _quickly_. Sending the usual scathing look Zoro's way, he made off for the kitchen and, seeing this, Luffy suddenly became energetic again.

"ZORO!" he shouted, shooting his elastic arms forward so that they gripped Zoro's sides, "ZORO! WE'RE GOING TO AN ISLAND! HAHA! I'm gonna eat alllllllll the food they have! And I'm going to climb a tree and-"

"Wait, Luffy," Zoro's bored voice cut Luffy off mid-sentence, "Don't you remember the bet you lost?"

"Huh? Which bet?"

Zoro sighed. He _knew_ this was going to happen and yet the lingering hope that his baka of a captain would remember had remained. Now he was going to have to break the news and he was pretty sure that his message wouldn't be received well by Luffy. He scratched the back of his neck and said:

"The bet. Remember? You made a bet with me last night…And you lost so you have to take my position of guarding the boat today…You can't go on the island"

"WHAT?" Luffy was shell shocked for a moment…Before he burst out laughing. He obviously didn't believe a word Zoro said. Zoro looked a bit ruffled at this but Luffy kept laughing and laughing until he was rolling on the floor and was banging his fist on the ground. He didn't stop until Zoro hit him on the head with the hilt of his sword which was pointless really because Luffy had his hat on and couldn't feel anything. He did, however, notice the action and immediately set up a hurt expression on his face and looked at Zoro sadly, his face clearly saying 'how could you _do_ such a thing to me?'

Glad that he had Luffy's attention, Zoro poked Luffy and said "I'm not kidding. You are staying here and I am going on the island. Or else I'm going to have to ask Sanji for a _favor_."

At the mention of 'Sanji' and 'favor' Luffy suddenly looked absolutely terrified. The last time Luffy hadn't upheld his side of a bet, Zoro had gone to Sanji and somehow convinced him to make all of Luffy's food extremely disgusting. Even though Luffy was not really picky about his food, even he couldn't swallow the muck that Sanji had concocted. It was a special recipe, Sanji had told him later, that Red Leg Zeff had used when he had pretended to be a cook on an enemy's ship. Sanji had, apparently, taken out the one ingredient that would have caused all of Luffy's taste buds to die right there and then. Although Luffy had no idea what 'taste buds' meant he knew what 'die' meant, and when he paired it with 'food' it didn't sound very fun.

And now Zoro was threatening him with it!

He couldn't believe it: his own first mate had gone on the evil side.

Luffy watched Zoro's retreating back and made up his mind. He was captain of this ship and so all he had to do was order someone to switch places with him so that he could have fun on the island. Luffy jumped to his feet and ran over to Nami who was busy getting her map making equipment ready.

"Oy, Nami! How long until we reach the island?'

Nami smiled, thinking that Luffy was excited to get on the island. She glanced over at the island and looked at the sky.

"Well, there's a good breeze and the atmospheric pressure isn't too high meaning that no rain will occur...but then again we are on the Grand Line and the weather is quite unpredictable-' She stopped seeing the blank look on Luffy's face and remembered that with her captain, short words and sentences were always best. "We'll be there in an hour or so Luffy."

"An hour?" Luffy got the determined look on his face that Nami had seen many times before, the most memorable of which was when he was about to take down Arlong. His eyes couldn't be seen under the shade of his straw hat and his mouth was set in a firm line that showed that he had set his mind to something and was not going to back down. His arms hung at his sides whiles his fingers were curled in to fists. Nami felt a shiver run down her spine at the look but the feeling was quickly replaced with Luffy's next words:

"I..I will go on this island. And _no one_ is going to stop me."

Nami face palmed. What was she expecting?


	2. Chapter 2: Please

**Look I'm back :D This chapter was hard :S Mostly coz I usually never get past chapter one and partly coz I had no idea what Usopp sounds like when he gets mad. Anywho, I meant to finish writing this yesterday but I was sort of reading a book. Well, like my English teacher said "Read to write and write to be read"**

**Special thanks to MasterCorran for my first ever review ^_^**

Chapter 2: Please

Luffy rushed up the stairs and bumped into was Usopp, who was making his way to the deck so that the paint on his latest invention could dry out in the sun. It was what he called Captain Usopp's Amazing Magical Direction Changing Pachinko Shooter or the CUAMDCPS for short. It had taken a long time to make but the almost finished product looked a lot like Usopp's slingshot, which was exactly what Usopp was aiming for.

The CUAMDCPS was to be used when attacking more than one enemy. Usopp had already imagined the whole thing: It would be an astounding battle for the awesome Captain Usopp. He was a step away from gaining access to a huge pile of gold but two of the world's greatest pirates were in his way. He smirked at the two pirates. They obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. Slowly, with the air of someone who had done this many times before, he drew out what seemed to be a normal slingshot but was, in fact, the CUAMDCPS. He fitted a fire star in to its holder and aimed at the taller of the two enemies. The tall red-head whipped out weapon, ready to block the attack but when Usopp yelled 'Sure shot fire star attack!' he was surprised to find that instead of going towards him, the bullet careened towards his partner. This was because of a secret mechanism that caused the bullet to go in a different direction just as the star was released.

Usopp was just imagining how he would look the remaining enemy in the eye and give a short speech about underestimating enemies when he realized that his creation was on the floor in pieces: When he had crashed in to Luffy, the CUAMDCPS had shot out his hand and was stepped on by Luffy's foot as he tried to steady himself.

Usopp was in shock.

Luffy, on the other hand, was totally oblivious of what he had just done and immediately started persuading Usopp into taking up his duty of protecting the ship.

"Usopp, _you_ are going to guard the ship while _I_ go on the island, OK? You have to or else…or else I'll ask Sanji for a favor," said Luffy, who had no idea what else to threaten Usopp with having never done it before. He suddenly had an idea, which was quite rare, "If you can guard the Going Merry until we come back then you'll be a brave man of the sea! Or at least you'll-"

"Luffy…YOU IDIOT!" Usopp's voice interrupted, surprising Luffy "I spent a WHOLE WEEK making the CAUMDCPS and you! You just broke it! It was almost finished! It was going to be my greatest weapon ever! And now it's gone! All because of you! And I don't have anymore materials to fix it with! I'm going to have to search THE WHOLE ISLAND for some!" Luffy shrank at Usopp's sudden rant. He had never seen Usopp this angry. Scared into doing crazy things, yes. But never angry.

Suddenly, two rivers of tears were flowing down Usopp's face and he was saying miserably "How am I going to show my face to the Giants of Elbaf if I do not have the proper weapons to be a brave warrior like them? My life is over. And with that last line the Great Captain Usopp's adventures came to a premature end, with him never being able to realize his dreams and hopes."

Usopp sighed and gathered up the pieces of his broken slingshot and headed back to his room, leaving Luffy confused on the stairs.

Dejected, Luffy made his way up the stairs. There was no way that Usopp was going to switch with him _now_. Even Chopper would probably side with Usopp and then he'd have even fewer people to take his chance with. And those few people were going to be hard to convince.

But Luffy's spirits were soon lifted by the smell of breakfast that originated from the kitchen. He was _ravenous _and this was proved by a large rumble coming from his stomach. Propelling himself forward with a quick Gomu Gomu trick, he landed in front of the kitchen door and was about to open it when it swung open towards him and squished him against the wall. Sanji, who had just finished making a huge breakfast for the crew and had opened the door to call them to the table, poked his head around the door and saw the dazed and rather thin Luffy stuck to the wall.

"Ah, Luffy, I made some pancakes for you," he said as he tried to pry Luffy off the wall. At the mention of pancakes, Luffy popped out, suddenly OK again, and crashed through the door to the kitchen, leaving a big, Luffy shaped hole in it.

Robin and Chopper were already seated at the table, waiting for the others to come so that they could start with their meal. Chopper seemed to have been animatedly telling Robin a story when they were distracted by the commotion in the doorway caused by Luffy. Robin smiled at him and sipped her coffee, immediately being able to tell that something was up with her captain. Whether that was because of the expression on his face or because she had caused an ear to sprout up and listen in to Zoro and Luffy's conversation earlier this morning, nobody will know.

But Luffy was too taken up by the sight of a huge stack of pancakes to notice. He jumped forward and landed on the bench beside the table and was about to help himself to a LOT of pancakes when Sanji stopped him.

"Ay, you know the rules. No eating until everyone is at the table"

Luffy was about to protest when Zoro and Nami came though the door. Seeing this Luffy grinned widely and made a move towards the pancakes. However, Sanji stopped him again.

"Sanji! I'm hungry! Let me eaaaatttt! Everyone's here!" Luffy cried, as he tried to wiggle his arms out from under Sanji's grip so he could get to the pancakes.

"When I say everyone, I _mean_ everyone. Usopp isn't here yet so we're going to wait."

"Uhhh…I don't think Usopp's going to come…" said Luffy in an embarrassed voice. Everyone turned to look at him and he wiggled uncomfortably in his seat. They had all noticed that Usopp had been in a great mood earlier this morning and wondered what was wrong with him.

It was Robin who first broke the silence that pervaded the room.

"What is the problem, Sencho-san?" She asked in her quiet voice.

"Well…I sort of…" Luffy mumbled. At this, the straw hat crew became even more surprised. Luffy never mumbled. He was known for being loud and not holding back. Ever. There was obviously something up and Robin was not the only one to notice this time.

It was at this point that Luffy decided to let go and just tell everything

"I-was-going-up-the-stairs-and-I-bumped-in-to-Usopp-and-I-was-asking-him-to-switch-places-with-me-so-I-could-go-on-the-island-but-somehow-his-CAUDMCSP…his-CUAD…his-mystery-thing-broke-and-he-got-really-angry-at-me-and-and-and-he-won't-switch-places-with-me!' Luffy garbled out.

He sighed, feeling a bit accomplished at having gotten out with the truth but the feeling didn't last long as he heard several members of his crew either gasp or sigh.

"You mean the amazing invention that was going to wipe out any person standing diagonal of his way?" asked Chopper in shock, "The weapon that he was working for so long on? The one he had almost finished? You _broke _it?" Chopper seemed to be near tears now and Luffy felt even more guilty than he did at Usopp's tears.

"BAKA!" Nami's annoyed voice was accompanied with a punch to Luffy's head which Luffy could feel very much since he had taken off his hat to fiddle with. A large, unrealistic pink bump appeared on his head as Nami continued.

"Poor Usopp. I was going to have him look at my Clima Tact to see if it was in good condition in case I needed to use it on the island but NOW I can't" She sent a withering glare Luffy's way as she set down her weapon and launched in to a long speech about how dumb her captain was and she wondered why she ever bothered to join his crew.

Sanji also seemed to be a bit annoyed with him and was telling him so but it was only Zoro's next words that got to Luffy

"Luffy, you are not allowed to switch places with anyone. That was part of the deal. You are staying on this ship and no one is going to swap with you."

Suddenly, Luffy didn't feel very hungry at all.


	3. Chapter 3: Abandoned

**Sorry about this chapter :S It's just sort of an interlude between everyone being on the ship and Luffy being alone on the ship. So yeah, it's really boring. But at least I made it short so you won't be bored for long :D **

**Anywho, hopefully the next one will be better :D**

Chapter 3: Abandoned

Luffy sat alone at the table, his head resting on his left hand with his legs crossed. Before him lay the unusual sight of leftovers from breakfast with most of it on plates instead of serving dishes. This was because, as always, the straw hat crew had taken more helpings than they could eat so that after Luffy had grabbed some food of their plates, they would still be left with enough to fill their stomachs. Surprisingly, or maybe not, Luffy hadn't been able to stomach as much as he normally would have due to the incessant glares coming from his crew members and the horrible feeling nestling in the pit his stomach.

After the unusually silent and quick breakfast, the mugiwaras ('straw hats' in Japanese if you didn't know) had one by one left the table to go make arrangements for the island, leaving Luffy alone. Alone was not a situation that Luffy liked to find himself in. Luffy frowned and stared a puddle of maple syrup that had dripped on to the table. He poked it and licked it. It tasted a bit like wood.

The cacophony of the sound of everyone else getting ready for their descent on the island could be heard through the slightly open door. Everyone was busy and Luffy didn't know what to do with himself. This was an entirely new feeling to Luffy since before this moment he had always had some goal to achieve or someone to have fun with or something to be excited about. But now he had nothing. He was bored and he didn't even have someone to complain about it to.

It was at this point that Sanji's blonde head poked through the doorway and gave Luffy a hurried message.

"Oy, Luffy, we arrived at the island a little bit earlier than expected so I can't make you a snack to eat while you're here," he said. Sanji watched as Luffy let his elbow slide across the table so that his head sunk even lower and hit the table with a thud. Feeling bad for leaving his captain like this, Sanji tried to make up for the snack by offering something else. "If you want…You can have the green jelly in the fridge. I made it for Robin-chan and Nami-san but it didn't turn out very well so I made another red one for them."

Luffy brightened up considerably at this and grinned hugely at Sanji.

"But I swear if you touch anything else in the fridge I will personally make sure you aren't even _able_ to eat anything for a week." Finished Sanji as his head disappeared from the doorway leaving a trail of smoke in his wake.

Feeling considerably more enthusiastic about staying on board with a jelly, Luffy made his way out of the kitchen to see his crew members off the ship. Most of them were already on the beach below and only Sanji and Chopper were still on board. Sanji was busy unloading a huge box on to the beach but Chopper, who was only carrying his medical bag, turned around and gave Luffy a tentative smile before looking a bit confused.

"Luffy there's something brown on your chin…" The blue-nosed reindeer said, pointing one of his hooves at the said brown thing.

Luffy swiped his hand across his chin and looked at it for a moment before licking it and grinning widely.

"It's just some maple syrup" he laughed as he reassured Chopper.

Chopper giggled then turned around and made his way to the beach where the rest of the crew was listening to Nami, who was issuing orders to them. Zoro seemed quite put out by this while Sanji, who had set his load down, was doing a noodle dance in joy. Robin was listening to the orange haired navigator while a small smile played across her lips. For a moment her eyes flickered towards Luffy as he surveyed the scene but quickly refocused on Nami before Luffy got the chance to notice.

The beach was just a few feet away from a huge forest that covered most of the island. Its beginning from the beach was marked by a huge natural stone pillar that was seven times taller than a normal human and twice as tall as the huge trees of the forest. Luffy looked on jealously as Chopper and Usopp, who was steadily ignoring Luffy, ran around the pillar and tried to climb it.

It was long before the crew members made their way in to the forest and started to disappear from Luffy sight. A loud voice coming from a certain green haired swordsman could be heard from where Luffy stood.

"OY LUFFY! TAKE CARE OF THE SHIP!"

Luffy grinned and slammed his hands on the edge of the railing as he yelled his reply

"HAAAAAAI!" (Yes in Japanese)

Luffy's grin slowly slipped off his face as the sounds made by his nakama grew farther and farther away. He stepped away from his position and tried to take his hands off the balustrade but his hand was still sticky from when he wiped away the maple syrup from his chin.

Frowning slightly at the sight of tiny splinters of wood stuck to his hand, Luffy made his way back to the kitchen and washed his hands. It was as he was squirting some apple scented soap on to them when he noticed something blue glinting from the table. It was a piece of Nami's Clima Tact. Nami _never _let Luffy touch or play with her stuff. Luffy looked back at the tiny bubbles on his hands and grinned.

Suddenly, staying on the ship alone didn't seem like such a boring prospect.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**AN: One word...Bubbles.**


	4. Chapter 4: Bubbles & Scouts

**Hello everyone! Missed me? well I have a few things to say before we get to the story:**

**1: I sort of changed the plot overnight when I couldn't sleep and as a result this chapter is simply awesome. Anyone whose opinion differs from mine may want to keep it to themselves or else I'll kick them all the way to *insert name of country far away from where you live*. **

**2: I used the word bubble so many times here that I felt like killing myself. Also I'm introducing some OC enemies. Old enemies just aren't as much fun and they might spoil it for someone who hasn't reached that particular enemies' arc yet.**

**3: I forgot to do the disclaimer in the first three chapters. Anyone who actually thought that I'm actually Eiichiro Oda in disguise will be sad to know that I am not. furthermore, I am so not him that I couldn't remember his name and had to google it. I do not own One Piece if you still didn't get it. **

**4: My nephews and my sister and my brother-in-law are coming over for and plan to stay for a month. I'll probably not be able to write or post any more chapters until they're gone so assume I'm on a hiatus unless a new chapter proves otherwise.**

**On with the story!**

Chapter 4: Bubbles & Scouts 

Luffy watched his reflection grin in the bowl that he had mixed some water and soap in. The mixture had a green tinge to it that reminded him a bit of Zoro. Luffy's grin grew a bit wider as he made a promise to himself: he would show Zoro that he could stand on guard and have more fun than the swordsman at the same time.

Luffy foraged under the dirty plates left on the table and found Nami's forgotten piece of Clima Tact. Nami had once given him a long explanation about the weapon and by the first three words; Luffy had already gotten a blank look on his face. Nami had then proceeded to tell him in words that he could understand that the three 'sticks' could make it cold, hot or electrical. Luffy had decided that they were magic sticks.

Luffy was wondering which one of the magic sticks he had when he noticed a button on one of its ends. On instinct, he pressed it and a tiny ball of cold air came out of the magic stick. Luffy frowned. He had found out which stick he had but there was no way that such a tiny amount of air could be used to make proper bubbles.

It was then that Luffy remembered the other part of Nami's speech: By blowing on one end of the stick, big balls of air would come out of the other side. Luffy grinned and dipped the magic stick in the soapy water. He took a deep breath and put the stick to his mouth and immediately made a horrible face. He had mistakenly put the bubble making side of the stick to his mouth and now his tongue tasted horribly like soap.

Luffy washed his tongue for a good five minutes, all the while wondering why apple scented soap didn't taste like apples.

Luffy dipped the magic stick in the soap solution and took such a deep breath that his rubber lungs puffed out and made him look like a balloon. Carefully, making sure that he had the right side this time, he put his mouth to the magic stick and, much like an unknotted balloon, he let out all the air in his lungs. On the other end of the magic stick, a huge bubble floated free. Luffy's face expanded as a huge grin settled on his features but not for long: the bubble had settled on something sharp and popped, spraying bits of soapy water on to everything, including Luffy. This didn't bother him much since he had already soaked himself when he was messily making the bubble solution.

Luffy was not to be put out by his bubble's apparent failure and he hurriedly took his magic stick and bowl outside with half of the bubble making solution spilling in his rush. It was cold outside, and the only reason Luffy had noticed because his shirt was still wet. The sky looked a bit dull and the sun was like a silver coin against the white backdrop of the clouds.

Dipping his magic stick in the soapy water again and taking another vacuum-creating breath, Luffy tried making another bubble that he hoped wouldn't meet the same fate as its predecessor. This time, Luffy slowly let out his pent up breath and watched as on the other side a wobbly sphere of rainbows grew larger and larger until the bubble, having grown to be a little taller than Luffy himself, gently floated away from the Clima Tact.

Pale white sunbeams filtered through the bubble that hovered a few feet above the deck and crystal shards of multicolored light danced across the deck. Luffy gave his signature grin and laughed as he saw his skin turn different colors.

Slowly, the bubble started descending and Luffy's grin faded since he knew that it would pop. But surprisingly, when the bubble landed on the wooden floor it made a small thud sound and remained whole. Luffy was confused. Happy, but confused. Suddenly an awesome thought occurred to him: _what if his bubble was unpoppable?_ Maybe bubbles made with magic-stick-air couldn't be popped! Ignoring the fact that his first bubble had popped, Luffy made his way to the bubble and, squinting to protect his eyes from the possibility of a soapy burst, he poked the bubble.

The bubble didn't pop. Mostly because it had turned into ice.

Luffy grinned widely and threw his arms out in happiness. "**YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH****!**" he shouted happily.

* * *

Hiashi was busy doing what he described as a mandatory part of being a guard and lookout. He was sleeping on the job. This was not, as most people would think, an easy job. In fact, he had been training since the day he was born to be able to sleep with such ease. He was now so good at sleeping that he could do it with his eyes closed, but he still believed that he needed more practice, and so, he slept.

At the moment, Hiashi was snoozing at the top of a tall stone pillar that, depending on which way you were facing, not only looked out on the forest below but also on the vast expanse of water that seemed to blend in with the sky at the horizon. He was sitting in the very middle so that no one below could see him but he could see everyone, that is, if he was awake. He had his head resting on one of his knees while his other leg curled around the first.

He was very comfortable.

Unfortunately, Hiashi was shaken out of unconsciousness by a loud noise coming from the beach. Hiashi grumbled: he had been asleep for the last nine hours and he wasn't about to give up on his streak now. However the noise continued, making its way through the icy air, slipping though his ear unasked and clanging around inside his skull making a huge ruckus until the owner of the brain was thoroughly awake.

Hiashi rubbed his eyes angrily and gave a menacing glare at the air in front of him while the noise sneaked out of his brain through the back door. It was while he was shaking his head to clear out his thoughts that Hiashi's gaze got caught on something sparkly. Making sure he couldn't be seen, Hiashi peeked out and saw the Going Merry and a young man on its deck, dancing around a multicolored ball.

Hiashi pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. He always had his hair twisted in to a knot at the top of his head and kept in place by several long silver needles. His hair flowed down from the top of the knot and stopped at the nape of his neck while several strands of hair continuously broke free and framed his face. At the moment he couldn't be bothered to have his hair bothering him.

He had a mission to do.

Hiashi shouldered his black backpack that had an emblem of two identical skull and crossbones that were joined at the bones. He strode over to the edge of the stone pillar and looked over the edge causing his stomach to show its acrobatic side. He couldn't help it. Even after Dante had taught him how to jump from really tall heights, his phobia had remained intact.

Hiashi grimaced and edged closer to the rim of the pillar until his toes peeked out at the ground below. Far _far_ below. With a last twist in his stomach, he jumped and fell face-forward like spear. Even though he wished he could close them, he kept his eyes open the whole time. At exactly the right moment, he twisted his body so that it was horizontal and, using his legs, he pushed off the stone pillar, diving towards the sand, and cushioned his fall by doing a ninja roll.

Hiashi stood up slowly, making sure that the boy in red didn't spot him, and shook off the sand that clung to his grey shirt and black short-legged pants. Tucking back several strands of hair that had loosened during his descent, Hiashi strode forward into the forest.

Yes, he had a mission to do. He had to tell his captain about their new escape route out of the island.

* * *

**Why doesn't apple scented soap taste like apples?**

**YAY! I finally got how to make a divider :D**


	5. Chapter 5: Wanderings & ramblings

**No, the hiatus is not over. But I found out that when I'm babysitting my nephews when they're awake at two in the night because of jet-lag, I can write almost as well as I can during the morning. Plus I can eat as many cookies as I want ^_^**

**This chapter is a bit random... **

Chapter 5: Wanderings and ramblings

It was dark. Whether this was because the day was giving into the night or because the leafy canopy above was getting thicker, Zoro couldn't tell. At the moment he wasn't very bothered by this because he was more worried about finding his crew. He had stayed behind for a moment to get an annoying pebble out of his shoe and when he looked up again they were gone.

Zoro glanced upwards and noticed that the cover of the trees was getting sparser. He wondered if this was a sign that he was getting closer to the beach that surrounded the forest. Zoro yawned and decided that he should take a short nap in the clearing he had reached before heading back to the ship. He had already collected enough wood to even please Nami so he didn't have anything else to do.

Grabbing one of the straps of the cylindrical basket like thing that he had carried on his back and that contained the wood he gathered, Zoro shrugged it off. Settling on a thick tree that Zoro, unnoticing, had passed five times in his search, he leaned back and rested his head on his crossed arms.

All was quiet.

Zoro had almost drifted off when a sharp crack of a twig breaking alerted him of someone's presence. In an instant he had Wadō Ichimonji an inch out of its hilt and was sending death glares at the shadows around him. However nobody appeared. After having stayed in the same position for ten minutes, Zoro decided that it had probably been his mind playing tricks on him and settled back down.

Even as he slept, Zoro's subconscious was still alert.

* * *

Luffy noticed it was getting darker only when his ice bubble started becoming dull. He was extremely disappointed by this until a rumble in his stomach reminded him of the jelly Sanji said he could eat. Grinning he made his way to the kitchen, wondering when his crew would come back. It was when he opened the fridge and saw two wobbly jellies staring back at him that he realized that he didn't remember which one was his: the red on or the green one.

He frowned and scratched his chin. Luffy's favorite color was red so the red jelly was probably his. But then again, Sanji hadn't planned to give him any jelly at all so maybe…Luffy sat down and crossed his legs. This was going to need some serious thinking.

Or maybe not.

In an instant, Luffy had half the red jelly in his digestive system. When he was going back for seconds, he noticed that the light from the open fridge passed through the jelly and caused the whole room to have a bright red glow.

_It's like my bubble._

Luffy suddenly had a brilliant idea. He raced over to Robin and Nami's room and took the brass lamp that Robin used to read books with and pulled off its shade so that the bulb was exposed. He wrenched the plug out of the socket in the wall and raced to his own room where he pulled out Usopp's toolbox. He took out some Super Adhesive Glue and ran back to the kitchen.

Once there, Luffy set the glue, lamp and jelly on the table. Grinning, he squirted some glue on the light bulb. It was transparent glue so Luffy was sure that it wouldn't make the light any less light-y. He was extremely careful with it, using a spoon to spread it evenly around the glass surface. Last time Luffy had used Usopp's glue, he had body parts sticking to each other for days and he didn't want that to happen again.

Next he dragged the jelly towards him, resisting the urge to eat it. The jelly had tasted like apples and reminded him of a really yummy apple cake that Makino had made for Luffy's sixth birthday. Luffy giggled, remembering the incident as he cut up the jelly into small pieces with his fork. Makino had had to make another cake since Luffy had eaten the first one within five seconds and hadn't shared it with anyone.

When Luffy was done cutting up the jelly, he used his fork to spear bits of it and stick it the light bulb. It took him ten minutes to get the whole thing covered in the delicacy and when he was done he grinned at his almost-finished masterpiece.

Luffy stuck the redecorated lamp under his arm and headed out to where he left his bubble and the bubble making equipment. He set his lamp down at eye-level and grabbed the bubble making stuff. Taking a normal-human-sized-deep breath, he blew a basketball sized bubble around the lamp making sure that its wire was outside the bubble.

Now came the hard part: waiting.

* * *

Hiashi made a face as he scuffed his boot against the ground, getting a very stinky type of mud off the heel. It wouldn't be fitting to make such an important report while smelling so _unattractive_. But then again, he mused, maybe it'll give an air of having done a lot of work. Hiashi picked up his booted foot and examined the green slime on it while hopping around on one foot. No, he decided, if he was going to go before the captain, then he was going to go in an I've-scouted-a-most-important-thing-and-I-did-it-without-getting-dirty style.

Hiashi smiled as he finally got the grime off with the help of a stick. Yes, this was a _very_ important report of his. The Black Reverse Pirates had come to the Gold Lagoon island in search of its famed treasures but after months of fruitless searching, they had returned to the beach to find their ship, The Assassin, missing. The only sign of it ever existing was its flag, which was white with two black skulls joined at the bones, floating in the water.

The Black Reverse Pirates were stuck and slowly, the crew was dying. Not from huger or lack of shelter, but because of the captain's anger at being stranded. His method of relaxing himself was a rather…bloodthirsty one for lack of a better word.

Now, thought Hiashi as he strode further into the forest, making sure he didn't step any mud, he had found an escape route: some more pirates had foolishly docked their ship here, probably searching for the same lie of a treasure as they did. It wouldn't be hard for them to commandeer the relatively small ship that was, at the moment, manned by a single person who _danced_ around sparkly things. The size of the ship showed that he probably didn't have many crewmates and even if he did, they couldn't be very strong or else they'd have seized a bigger ship, as was customary.

Hiashi stopped when he saw a small green-blue lake and cleared his throat before purposefully striding into a clearing beside the lake where the pirates were currently camping.

Times were looking up.


	6. Chapter 6: Reports & Plans

**Hello! I'm back :D But the hiatus is still here too, this is just another midnight story.  
Today, I am going to introduce some brand spanking new characters who are very evil and very awesome :D At least, they were in my imagination but I'm not sure if I was able to get them down right. For this reason there is going to be quite a bit of description. Please don't skip them. And if you are just skip the parts about Sora but not Subaku because I already like Subaku.  
And yes, I am stealing the names of all these people from Naruto coz I have no clue about Japanese names. Dante, I think, is not a Japanese name. I just got that one from my head.  
**_**(Hiashi = Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata's dad)  
(Sora = That filler episode guy with the Kyuubi chakra)  
(Subaku = From Subaku no Gaara)**_**  
Anywho, enjoy the story and I hope you haven't forgotten what happened in the previous chapters by now XD**

Chapter 6: Reports & Plans

On his entry into the camp of the Black Reverse Pirates, Hiashi was greeted by a slice of blood that had just recently been removed from its owner and now took up residence on Hiashi's formerly neat shirt. He grimaced and moved his gaze from the blood on his shirt to the person who had just been killed- no, assassinated- in front of him and, more importantly, the two people who sat in makeshift thrones in front of the dead man.

In the very few moments before the two captains looked at him, Hiashi quickly evaluated them.

The one sitting directly in front of him had a bored expression on his deathly pale face but even then, his light gray eyes had a look of sheer menace in them. His forehead was topped by short spiky hair that was a darker hue of gray that matched perfectly with his clothes. Captain Sora believed that if one truly wanted to blend in with the shadows, then the color black should be avoided at all costs because black was several shades darker than the color of a shadow. Therefore, everything about him was different shades of gray. The only color about him was the fresh red blood that dripped off the blade of the katana in his hand and a thick band of multicolored threads around his neck from which tens of tiny red fish scales hung.

His entire appearance was accompanied by an aura of danger.

Subaku, on the other hand, was like an explosion of the rainbow to the human eye. His very hair was a dark shade of blue that contrasted horribly with his one green and one black eye. He had a faded tattoo of a game of knots and crosses on his left cheek and several others on his bare arms.

His clothes seemed to be made up of several hundred pieces of different colored cloths stitched on to a barely visible red sleeveless long shirt. Around his waist was a belt made up of hundreds of glassy red beads. The belt twisted around him thrice and both ends, which were made of multicolored threads, were knotted together at the front. He wore short gray pants that were covered in different kinds of kunai knives and shuriken. He also had a pair of long twin swords that hung from his shoulder and stopped just above his ankles in his sitting position. He seemed to be slightly amused by the gory spectacle in front of him but more interested in the flip cards he held.

Gulping down the lump of fear in his throat, Hiashi stepped forward. He knew that both captains (even if one refused to be referred to as 'captain') had already noticed his arrival and had probably known he was near since before he was even in sight, but it was only respectful to make his presence known.

Captain Sora looked up lazily from his victim at the movement but Subaku tarried, putting away his cards and reaching over to swipe a drop of blood off Sora's sword and scraping it off into a small glass capsule that he snapped shut so that it looked like a red bead. He carefully added the bead to his belt before looking up and grinning.

"Ah, Hiashi, is it? Back from lookout duty? It has been an hour since you were supposed to come back with a report you know," he stated, "We were just about to send someone looking for you."

Although it was known the Captain Sora never started any conversation, Hiashi was still glad that it was Subaku that had initiated because he was afraid that Captain Sora would refuse to hear him out and just kill him straight. His posture automatically relaxed.

"To kill you," added Captain Sora blandly.

Hiashi stiffened. Subaku laughed.

"Sorry, I forget the details sometimes," he said with a smile in his voice.

Hiashi decided that if he ever wanted to live a long life, then he had better start talking…And soon because Captain Sora was already halfway off of his chair and was gripping the katana tightly.

"Ah, you see Captain Sora and Ca- Subaku," Hiashi gulped again, knowing he had already made a bad start by almost referring to Subaku as 'Captain', "I was delayed because I made an astounding discovery that will be instrumental to our approaching escape from this island."

Hiashi knew he had the complete attention of the two captains and of everyone else who was sitting in the shadows of the trees. From the corner of his eye, he saw Dante suddenly appear from a shadow and could hear him come closer, seeing as his boots, that were covered in sharp spikes, clanged lightly with every step. Hiashi's teacher, also the first mate of the ship, obviously wanted to hear every word. Hiashi wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing or not. However, he continued, mostly because of an impatient sound coming from Subaku's direction.

"I had just returned from a trip to answer the call of nature," Hiashi quickly made up a story that excluded the fact that he was asleep, "And I noticed several footprints in the formerly smooth sand. I quickly realized that someone was near and returned to my spot above the northern lookout tower, which was also surrounded by several foot and hoof prints. From there, I was able to see that there was a small ship docked at the beach," At the sound of 'small' a flash of annoyance crossed Captain Sora's eyes, and Hiashi quickly retraced, "The ship is big enough to hold our…newly decreased crew though. It was manned by a single person who was at the moment…entranced…by a sparkly ball."

At this, Dante snorted.

"A sparkly ball? Are you sure this wasn't just a dream that you envisioned while you were obviously sleeping on the job, like always?" he questioned in a harsh voice that Hiashi had heard many times before.

Hiashi bristled at the accusation, even though it was partly true.

"Of course I am sure. Even if I had been asleep, which I assure you I wasn't, it would be impossible for me to not notice that the dream was nothing _but _a dream when I woke up."

Dante smirked like didn't believe Hiashi and was preparing a comeback when a glance from Sora quieted him.

Hiashi continued with his story, "I also happened to pass another young man asleep in the forest. Fortunately for us, I do not think he noticed my presence. He had quite a lot of wood with him and considering that he was only a little way away from the clearing which he took it from, I am supposing that he is quite weak and could not carry the load all the way to the beach which was practically next to him but two trees. I did not meet any others."

With the obvious end of his report, Hiashi stood and surveyed the two captains before him and wondered whether they would change their opinion of killing him or not. Despite their obvious differences, the two would always have practically the same views.

"As much as it would delight me to kill you here and now for being late," Captain Sora said in a drawling voice that made Hiashi shiver, "It would delight me much, _much_ more to kill you when and if I find out that your report is a lie. Your aura was tinged dreadfully with black, which means you were lying about something, and when I find out what, there _will_ be retribution."

Hiashi cringed as he belatedly remembered that his captains could see the auras of people without even trying. He should have been more careful and not let his emotions seep into his chakra.

Subaku leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. "Even without checking the color of his aura, it was quite obvious that he was lying, Sora. Ha! That rhymes!" Subaku grinned for a moment before returning to the point, "But I think you're right. If there's no sign of any ship, then we will have to get rid of him. No point in having a guy who can't even lie properly among us, right? Well then, that's settled. Dante, you will go to the northern tower with Hiashi here and confirm his report. If he's lying, then make use of your boots."

At that, Dante grinned the same horrible grin that had tortured Hiashi's dreams since as long as he could remember. "Well, isn't this going to be fun?"


	7. Chapter 7: The Others

**A/N: This is not such a good chapter. Sort of like an interlude kind of thing really. Anywho, Boom de yada everyone :)**

Chapter 7: The Others

Nami knelt at the base of the humungous tree and ran her fingers over its protruding roots.

"Look, Robin, don't you think these roots are a bit…Funny looking? Maybe the soil shifted and made the roots come above the ground…"

"Actually, these are buttress roots, mainly found in rainforests. They have to absorb water from above ground level rather than from the soil. Usually it's because the soil can't take in the water properly. The rain water doesn't get soaked in and the water pools over the soil where it is absorbed by the special roots." The archeologist explained over the sound of Sanji singing "Robin chwan is so beautiful when she knows things!"

Nami frowned "But Onee San! There were so many lakes and ponds here! Your explanation doesn't make any sense…"

Robin was about to reply when she was cut off prematurely by Chopper:

"LOOOOOOOOOK! SAKURA TREEEES!"

As the young doctor galloped off, Nami sighed. They were now down by three crew-members, leaving only Sanji, Robin and herself. Usopp had wandered off, muttering about materials under his breath so Sanji was now loaded with the bags of 4 people as well as a huge basket of fruit and a dead tiger slung over his shoulder. Super-strong as the cook was, Nami was afraid that he wouldn't be able to carry any of the other stuff that she might pick up along the way.

It was then that a simple solution struck her.

"Sanji, why don't you go back to the Going Merry and put away the stuff we got?" She suggested with flirty eyes, "That way, you could check up on Luffy and find Zoro as well!" Sanji looked a bit depressed at the thought of leaving the two ladies alone. "And then, when you're done, you could come back and help us carry our stuff!" Nami finished, leaving Sanji in a much better mood. Robin smiled slightly at the navigator while Sanji noodle danced around them.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIII NAMI SWAAAN!"

1 hour later

Sanji trudged through the leafy undergrowth and mumbled something about stupid swordsmen. He was about to kick through a particularly annoying thorny bush that's color reminded him of a certain someone when he caught the sound of a distant, familiar snore.

Sanji followed the sound to its owner and found him blissfully sleeping next to a pitifully small amount of wood. Sanji growled at the sight and took out a cigarette from his right pocket where he always kept a pack. He lit it and took a long drag. Smirking slightly he positioned his face so that it was a few inches away from the marimo's own. He was just about to exhale smoke all over Zoro's face when Zoro suddenly woke up and threw a punch at Sanji's way-too-close face, but it was effectively blocked.

"The hell do you want, shitty love-cook?"

Sanji growled and set down his stuff.

"You annoyed Nami san by getting lost, stupid." Sanji assumed a fighting stance, "I think I'll give you a crash course on manners...On the house."

"You talk too much," Zoro unsheathed his swords, "Bring it on Pansy…If you can"

* * *

Usopp stuck a hand in his pockets and kicked at a pebble. So far he had been unable to find any useful materials besides wood and tree-gum. All in all, the CUAMDCPS had 23 ingredients that were needed to make it whole again. In fact, 4 more things needed to be added to make it Luffy-proof, which Usopp suddenly decided was necessary. His tool-box contained only 12 of the required components and the remaining 13 could only be found at an island that housed an advanced civilization. Even then, they probably wouldn't have the kind of metal that made up the insides of Usopp's weapon.

Usopp sighed dejectedly and continued searching the ground for the Kwadin plant whose blue leaves were used as sandpaper for his weapons and some bullets.

"You are a complete idiot, Hiashi."

Usopp froze. As the sound of the two people came closer, he quickly hid up a tree and listened in. The duo was obviously quarrelling about something.

"Is that so?" a higher pitched voice replied, "then how is it that I managed to be the one who sighted our escape and not one of your 'prodigies'?"

"it was a simple matter of coincidence."

"You don't believe in coincidences, Dante."

"I was just forced into believing in it," the one called Dante said with an audible smirk, "Because the discovery was definitely not due to any prowess that you imagine yourself to have."

Usopp decided that he didn't like Dante. If it wasn't for him coming down with I-can't-get-off-this-tree-ititis, he would definitely attack the stuck-up jerk.

"Hmph. So what do you think the plan of action will be when we return?"

"We have yet to discover if the ship is not just a figment of your imagina-"

"Do you really think I'd put up with walking with you for no reason?"

The two stopped a meter away from Usopp's hiding place. A tense silence reigned for a few minutes and the sharpshooter was itching to check if the arguing men were still there or not.

"I suppose my group can easily take care of the crew while everyone else loads stuff on the ship.."

"What about the boy with the red shirt?"

"He's probably just a lackey. Anyone can take care of him. Stealing the ship will be no problem. I'm just concerned about the people who took our ship. When I get a hold of them-"

"Then you'll probably have to hand them in to the captain." the Hiashi guy finished, "right now, we focus on the straw-hat ship"

"Straw-hat?"

"Yeah. Its Jolly Roger had a straw-hat."

"Sounds dumb. Maybe you should join that crew."

Usopp's grip on the tree tightened as he slowly realized what the two were planning to do. '_Merry._' He thought, '_Luffy will protect Merry. I'm sure of it._'

A deafeningly quiet crack could be heard as the branch in Usopp's hand splintered. Dante and Hiashi immediately looked up and gave cold glares which scared Usopp out of his wits and made him fall. He took one last look at the two menacing pirates and ran. '_I have to warn Luffy! Or Zoro or Sanji! They have to protect Merry! _I _have to protect Merry!_'

Usopp slowed down when he noticed that he wasn't being followed. He stopped and bent over, resting his palms on his knees and taking quick, panting breaths to calm his adrenaline pumped nerves. He straightened up to start running again but found himself looking at a tall man.

"Only cowards run from a fight." Usopp recognized the voice as Dante's.

A thin smile made its way to Dante's heavily pierced face. His hair was bone white and looked just as hard; he raised his arm till the palm was facing Usopp's paralyzed form.

With a slight squelching sound, the skin of his palm split open to allow a long thin bone to come 17 inches out of it in a curving fashion.

"Everyone runs from me though."

Usopp's bones refused to move as his body was pierced over and over again by the bone blade.

* * *

**A/N: What is it with Usopp and getting badly hurt all the time?**


End file.
